Diffusion temperature shock monitor

ABSTRACT

A temperature shock monitor includes a solvent material and a diffusion material. An energy barrier between the solvent material and the diffusion material is selected to be lower than is would conventionally be used in semiconductor devices such that the diffusion material diffuses into the solvent material when exposed to a temperature above a designated temperature threshold. At a later time, electrical parameters of the temperature shock monitor that change based on the amount of diffusion of the diffusion material into the solvent material allows one to determine whether the temperature shock monitor was exposed to a temperature above the temperature threshold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/518,542, entitled “DIFFUSIONTEMPERATURE SHOCK MONITOR,” filed on Jun. 12, 2017, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application relates to temperature shock monitors that useatomic diffusion.

BACKGROUND

There are a number of products that, when exposed to high temperatures,even for a short period of time, either become unusable or underperformcompared to products that have not been exposed to high temperatures.For example, the working lifetime of some electronic circuits maydecrease as a result of exposure to high temperatures as a result of, byway of example and not limitation, unexpected carrier injection andtrapping of charges in gate oxides of transistors in the circuits. Atextreme temperatures, some electronic circuits may fail completely. Asanother example, perishable goods, such as fruit and vegetables,maintain freshness and have a longer shelf life when kept at cooltemperatures. Exposure to high temperatures can increase the rate ofdecay and affect the quality of the perishable goods.

Temperature monitors can be used to monitor conditions for electronicsand perishable goods. The conditions being monitored may be operationalconditions, such as the temperature of electronic circuits duringoperation, or shipping and storing conditions, such as the temperatureof a vehicle transporting electronics and/or perishable goods from onelocation to another.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Some aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a temperatureshock monitor includes a solvent material and a diffusion material. Anenergy barrier between the solvent material and the diffusion materialis selected to be lower than is would conventionally be used insemiconductor devices such that the diffusion material diffuses into thesolvent material when exposed to a temperature above a designatedtemperature threshold. At a later time, electrical parameters of thetemperature shock monitor that change based on the amount of diffusionof the diffusion material into the solvent material allows one todetermine whether the temperature shock monitor was exposed to atemperature above the temperature threshold.

Some embodiments are directed to a temperature shock monitor fordetermining whether a temperature threshold is exceeded, the temperatureshock monitor including a solvent material and a first diffusionmaterial. An energy barrier between the solvent material and the firstdiffusion material is less than 2.0 eV.

Some embodiments are directed to a method of determining whether atemperature threshold is exceeded using a solvent material, a firstdiffusion material, and an energy barrier between the solvent materialand the first diffusion material. The method includes diffusing thefirst diffusion material into the first solvent material by exposing thesolvent material and the first diffusion material to a temperaturesufficient to exceed the energy barrier, and detecting an electricalproperty of the solvent material that is indicative of a concentrationof the first diffusion material in the first solvent material.

Some embodiments are directed to a semiconductor device that includes acore circuit and a temperature shock monitor for determining whether atemperature threshold is exceeded. The temperature shock monitorincludes a solvent material and a first diffusion material. An energybarrier between the solvent material and the first diffusion material isless than 2.0 eV.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the following figures. It should beappreciated that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Itemsappearing in multiple figures are indicated by the same reference numberin all the figures in which they appear.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an energy barrier between a diffusionmaterial and a solvent material based on an activation energy, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an energy barrier between a diffusionmaterial and a solvent material based on the use of a barrier material,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a graph of diffusion material concentrations as a function ofdepth into the solvent material for three different time periods,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor including ap-n junction, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor including ametal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor-like (MOSFET-like)design, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a semiconductor device that includes a temperature shocksensor, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of determining whether a temperaturethreshold is exceeded, according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has recognized and appreciated that can be burdensome andcostly to monitor the temperature of products, such as electronicsand/or perishable items. Conventional techniques require electronictemperature monitors that require electrical power and/or memory tomeasure, record and save temperature data. Such conventional temperaturemonitors can be expensive to manufacture and unreliable over longperiods due to the finite lifetime of a battery that supplies therequisite electrical power to the temperature monitor.

The inventor has recognized and appreciated that to determine whether atemperature threshold is exceeded, a conventional temperature monitorthat keeps a complete temperature record, e.g., a record of thetemperature of a device and/or the device environment as a function oftime, is not necessary. Instead, a temperature shock monitor, whichdetermines whether a temperature threshold is exceeded but does notnecessarily keep a complete temperature record, may be used. Theinventor has further recognized and appreciated that temperature shockmonitors may be manufactured simply and cheaply by utilizing theexponential dependency of atomic diffusion on temperature to permanentlyrecord a transient temperature shock. Moreover, such temperature shockmonitors may not require a power source, such as a battery, andtherefore can operate over long periods of time.

Aspects of the present application provide a temperature shock monitorthat can detect temperature spikes in an unpowered state. The monitorincludes a solvent material, which may comprise a semiconductor, and afirst diffusion material, which may comprise a dopant. The sensorutilizes the fact that diffusion has an exponential dependence ontemperature and a square root dependence on time. As a result, measuringan electrical property that relates to the concentration of the firstdiffusion material in the solvent material and one of the temperature ortime may provide information about the other of the temperature or time.Additionally, a short and sharp temperature spike may cause a detectablechange in diffusion, while exposure to a lower temperature over a longerperiod of time may not. After diffusion, the concentration of the firstdiffusion material into the solvent material may be measured repeatedly,providing memory of the temperature spike.

In some embodiments, a temperature shock monitor may include more thanone diffusion material. For example, a second diffusion material may beincluded in addition to the first diffusion material. The two diffusionmaterials may be selected such that first diffusion material diffuses ata different rate than the second diffusion material. In someembodiments, the two diffusion materials are arranged such that thediffusion of each individual material may be measured. By includingmultiple diffusion materials, each with different rates of diffusionwithin the solvent material allows not only the determination of whethera temperature threshold was exceeded, but also a determination of howmuch time the temperature shock monitor spent at a high temperatureexceeding the threshold.

In some embodiments, an energy barrier, or required activation energy,between the diffusion material and the solvent material may preventdiffusion of the diffusion material. In one embodiment, the energybarrier is approximately 2.0 eV. The energy barrier may be overcome byapplying a temperature spike for a time interval. The energy barrier maybe controlled by the type of diffusion material chosen, or byincorporating a structure that increases the energy barrier. Anelectrical signal may be used to overcome the energy barrier of thestructure. In this way, diffusion of the first diffusion material intothe solvent material may be prevented prior to activation by a user.

By way of example and not limitation, a temperature shock monitor mayinclude an oxide barrier between the second diffusion material and thesolvent material, and an electrical signal supplying 700° C. in onemicrosecond may overcome the oxide barrier energy and activate thetemperature monitor. In one embodiment, the solvent material comprisessilicon and the first diffusion material comprises an element with asuitable activation energy. In some embodiments, the activation energyrequires a 200° C. temperature spike over a microsecond, and a suitableelement may be silver, gold, copper, or another suitable dopant. Inother embodiments, the temperature threshold is adjustable depending onthe target application. Some embodiments of a temperature shock monitormay include a silicon p-n junction, wherein the diffusion of the seconddiffusion material may be controlled by an electric field within the p-njunction and a temperature spike. In such embodiments, informationbeyond the presence of a temperature spike may be extracted.

In some embodiments, the diffusion of one or more diffusion materialsinto the solvent material may permanently record temperature spikes.Changes in diffusion may be detected by measuring electricalcharacteristics related to the amount of diffusion material within thesolvent material, such as diode leakage, junction voltage, gain,transient response, and threshold voltage, among others. Such quantitiesmay indicate the concentration of the diffusion material within thesolvent material, and the concentration may indicate the temperaturespike and time interval. In some embodiments, a metal contact in contactwith a silicon p-n junction measures changes in such quantitiesfollowing diffusion of the second diffused material across a barrier andinto the junction.

The diffusion material may be selected based on its activation energy,where the activation energy is the depth of an energy well an atom ofthe diffusion material sits at the bottom of. For example, depending onthe application (the type of temperature event to be monitored), a loweror higher activation energy may be desirable. Thus, a diffusion material(e.g., a dopant) may be selected based on having a desired activationenergy sufficient to react to the type of temperature event to bedetected. Diffusion material with too low an activation energy maydiffuse too quickly, while diffusion material with too high anactivation energy may diffuse too slowly. As a non-limiting example,gold may be suitable for detecting a desired temperature event, whileboron, phosphorous, antimony may diffuse too slowly to detect the sametype of temperature event. Sodium and H2 may diffuse too quickly todetect the desired temperature event. Again though, as noted thesuitability of the diffusion material may depend on the temperatureevent to be detected. Thus, boron, phosphorous, and antimony may bepreferable to gold for detecting certain temperature events.

The inventor has further recognized and appreciated that atomicdiffusion is undesirable in conventional electrical components. Thus, adiffusion material may be selected that would not be selected forconventional electrical circuit components, such as transistors. Forexample, an energy barrier between gold and silicon is approximately1.12 eV, which is too low to be used to form reliable traditionalelectrical components, but may be useful as a temperature shock monitor,according to some embodiments. Similarly, silver, with an energy barrierof approximately 1.6 eV, and copper, with an energy barrier ofapproximately 1.0 eV, may be suitable as a diffusion material accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor 100 a beforediffusion of a diffusion material and the same temperature shock sensor100 b after diffusion of the diffusion material, according to someembodiments. The temperature shock sensor 100 a includes a diffusionmaterial 101 and a solvent material 103. A solvent-diffusion interface102 may be located between the solvent material 103 and the diffusionmaterial 101. The diffusion of the diffusion material 101 into thesolvent material 103 is caused by the temperature shock sensor beingexposed to a temperature above a threshold temperature. The exposure tosuch a high temperature creates a diffusion region 105 in thetemperature shock sensor 100 b, where a portion of the diffusionmaterial 101 is intermixed with the solvent material 103.

The solvent material 103 may be any suitable solid state material foratomic diffusion. In some embodiments, the solvent material 103 forms asolvent lattice. For example, the solvent material 103 may be silicon.In some embodiments, a silicon substrate may be used as the solventmaterial 103.

The diffusion material 101 may be any suitable material that diffusesinto the solvent material 103. In some embodiments, the diffusionmaterial is a material that is mobile within a lattice of the solventmaterial and does not become part of the solvent lattice. In someembodiments, the diffusion material 101 is selected such that an energybarrier between the solvent material 103 and the diffusion material 101has a particular value based on an activation energy. In someembodiments, the energy barrier may be greater than or equal to 0.7 eV.For example, the energy barrier may be between 1.0 eV and 3.0 eV,between 1.0 eV and 2.0 eV, or between 1.1 eV and 1.7 eV. By way ofexample and not limitation, some embodiments may include the followingenergy barriers using the associated materials: the energy barrierbetween copper and silicon is 1.0 eV; the energy barrier between goldand silicon is 1.12 eV; the energy barrier between silver and silicon is1.6 eV; the energy barrier between platinum and silicon is 2.22 eV; andthe energy barrier between aluminum and silicon is 3.0 eV. By way ofcomparison, the energy barrier for phosphorous (a common dopant used insemiconductor devices where diffusion is preferably avoided) in siliconis 3.36 eV.

In some embodiments, the energy barrier is selected to be suitable for aparticular application. For example, a lower the energy barrier resultsin a lower temperature threshold resulting in faster diffusion. Thus,for monitoring temperature shock at lower threshold temperatures, suchas the case when used in an application involving the shipping ofperishable goods, the temperature shock monitor may use copper and/orgold as the diffusion material 101. For monitoring temperature shock athigher threshold temperatures, such as the case when used in anapplication shipping or operating electronic circuits, the temperatureshock monitor may use silver, platinum, and/or aluminum as the diffusionmaterial 101.

FIG. 2 illustrates the energy barrier in a temperature shock monitor200, according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 2, in someembodiments, the energy barrier between a diffusion material 201 and asolvent material 203 is based on an activation energy. The diffusionmaterial 201 is in physical contact with the solvent material 203. Afterthe thermal energy, kT, where k is Boltzmann's constant and T is thetemperature of the temperature shock monitor 200, exceeds the energybarrier, E_(barrier), the diffusion material atoms overcome the energybarrier and begin diffusing across the interface between the diffusionmaterial 201 and the solvent material 203, forming a diffusion region205. The concentration of the diffusing material in the diffusion region205 is a function of the thermal energy (and therefore the temperature)and the time the temperature shock monitor 200 is maintained at atemperature above the energy barrier.

In some embodiments, the activation energy of the diffusion material isbelow 700° C. applied for a microsecond or less. In other embodiments,the activation energy of the first diffusion material is below 200° C.applied in a steady state condition.

FIG. 3 illustrates the energy barrier in a temperature shock monitor300, according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 3, in someembodiments, the energy barrier is a result of a diffusion barriermaterial 304 positioned between the diffusion material 301 and thesolvent material 303. The diffusion material 301 is not in physicalcontact with the solvent material 303. The diffusion barrier material304 imposes a higher energy barrier than the activation energy of thediffusion material in the solvent material 303. In some embodiments, asshown in FIG. 3, the activation energy of the diffusion material 301 inthe solvent material 303 can be near zero as the energy barrier can beprovided mostly by the diffusion barrier material 304. In otherembodiments, the activation energy of the diffusion material 301 in thesolvent material 303 may be between 1.0 eV and 3.0 eV, between 1.0 eVand 2.0 eV, or between 1.1 eV and 1.7 eV. In some embodiments, thediffusion barrier material 304 may be an insulator and/or a dielectric.For example, the diffusion barrier material 304 may include a siliconoxide.

After the thermal energy, kT, where k is Boltzmann's constant and T isthe temperature of the temperature shock monitor 300, exceeds the energybarrier, E_(barrier), the diffusion material atoms overcome the energybarrier and begin diffusing into the solvent material 303, forming adiffusion region 305. The concentration of the diffusing material in thediffusion region 305 is a function of the thermal energy (and thereforethe temperature) and the time the temperature shock monitor 200 ismaintained at a temperature above the energy barrier.

In some embodiments, the temperature shock sensor 300 may be activatedby a user at a desired time. This activation may be done using anelectrical shock or a thermal shock. The energy barrier may be set highsuch that little to no diffusion material 301 diffuses into the solventmaterial 303 prior to activation by the user. In some embodiments, ifthe activation energy of the diffusion material 301 in the solventmaterial is greater than the thermal energy based on the temperature ofthe temperature shock sensor 300, the atoms of diffusion material 301will stay localized near the interface of the diffusion barrier material304 and the solvent material 303 and will not diffuse a significantdistance into the solvent material 303. In this way, the temperatureshock sensor 300 may be activated and still be able to determine whetherthe temperature shock sensor 300 is exposed to temperatures above athreshold temperature set by the activation energy of the diffusionmaterial 301 in the solvent material.

FIG. 4 is a graph of diffusion material concentrations as a function ofdepth within the solvent material, according to some embodiments. Thethree lines represent one year, four years and 10 years at a temperatureabove the threshold temperature. The depth of diffusion into the solventmaterial depends on the amount of time a temperature shock sensor is inan environment above the threshold temperature. As illustrated in FIG.4, the concentration of the diffusion material near the interface of thediffusion material with the solvent material (x=0 nm) is higher than atdepths of x=500 nm to x=2000 nm. But there may be significantconcentrations of diffusion material at depths up to 2000 nm in thesolvent material. The presence of diffusion material in the solventmaterial is permanent and the cause of the diffusion is based on thethermal energy, requiring no electrical power, in some embodiments.

The presence of diffusion material within the solvent material mayaffect one or more electrical properties of a thermal shock sensor. Insome embodiments, an electrical property such as diode leakage, junctionvoltage, gain, transient response, and threshold voltage, among others,may be measured at a point in time after the diffusion occurs todetermine whether the temperature threshold was exceeded at any pasttime.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor 500 thatincludes a p-n junction, according to some embodiments. The temperatureshock sensor 500 includes a diffusion material 501, a solvent material503, and an optional diffusion barrier material 504. As discussed above,the diffusion material 501 is configured to diffuse into the solventmaterial 503 when the temperature exceeds a threshold temperature. Thepresence of diffusion material 501 in the solvent material 503 willaffect the electrical properties of the p-n junction. These changes inelectrical properties may include the leakage current of the diodeformed by the p-n junction.

In some embodiments, the temperature shock sensor 500 further includes ap-type semiconductor 505, an electrical contact 511, an n-typesemiconductor 507, an electrical contact 513, an insulating material509, an insulator 520, n-type buried diffusion 522, and an n-type plugdoped region 524. The diffusion material 501 is positioned in contactwith the p-type semiconductor 507 or, if it is present, in contact withthe optional diffusion barrier material 504, which is in contact withthe p-type semiconductor 507. The p-type semiconductor 505 is on top ofthe solvent material 503, which may be an n-doped semiconductor, such asepitaxial silicon. The n-type semiconductor 507 is also on top of thesolvent material 503. Electrical contact 511 is electrically connectedto the p-type semiconductor 505 and electrical contact 513 iselectrically connected to the n-type semiconductor. The solvent material503 may include the n-type buried diffusion 522, which is a highly dopedregion of the semiconductor solvent material 503 that serves as a lowresistance path for the diode current, enabling the full area of thediode to be efficiently used rather than just the edges. The solventmaterial 503 is in physical contact with the insulator 520 electricallyand physically isolates the temperature shock sensor 500 fromsurrounding circuitry that may be present in some embodiments. Then-type plug doped region 524 makes a vertical electrical connection tothe n-type buried diffusion 522 in order to complete the electrical pathfor diode current to the surface of the temperature shock sensor 500.Electrical properties of the diode of the temperature shock sensor 500may be measured by supplying a current and/or voltage to one or more ofthe electrical contacts 511 and 513. The insulating material 509prevents electrical coupling of portions of the temperature shock sensor500 should not be in physical contact with one another.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the diffusion material501 is positioned neared to the p-type material than the n-typematerial. In other embodiments, the solvent material is positionedneared to the n-type material than the p-type material. Having thediffusion material 501 nearer to one of the electrodes of thetemperature shock sensor 500 may increase the sensitivity of ameasurement of an electrical property of the temperature shock sensor500.

In some embodiment, the amount of diffusion material 501 that hasdiffused into the solvent material 503 may be determined by measuringthe reverse leakage current of the diode. Additionally or alternatively,the p-n junction potential may be measured to determine theconcentration of the diffusion material 501 within the solvent material503.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a temperature shock sensor 600including a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor-like(MOSFET-like) design, according to some embodiments. The temperatureshock sensor 600 includes a diffusion material 601, a solvent material603, a diffusion barrier material 604, an n-type semiconductor source605, an n-type semiconductor drain 607 and a channel 609. The diffusionmaterial is separated from the channel 609, the n-type semiconductorsource 605, and the n-type semiconductor drain 607 by a diffusionbarrier material 604. In the temperature shock sensor 600, the diffusionbarrier material 604 replaces what would traditionally be the gate inthis MOSFET-like design. The solvent material 603 may be, for example, ap-type semiconductor substrate (e.g., p-Si).

When a temperature shock occurs that exceeds the temperature threshold,atoms of the diffusion barrier material 604 diffuse into the channel 609of the solvent material 603. The channel 609 is the portion of thesolvent material 603 between the n-type semiconductor source 605 and then-type semiconductor drain 607 and in physical contact with thediffusion barrier material 604. The presence of the diffusion material601 in the channel 609 affects electrical properties of the transistorof the temperature shock monitor 600, such as the leakage current.

In some embodiments, a measurement of the leakage current determineswhether the temperature shock monitor 600 experienced a temperatureshock event (e.g., the temperature exceeded the temperature threshold).By way of example and not limitation, the leakage current may bemeasured by applying a current to the n-type semiconductor source 605and measuring the current leaking from the n-type semiconductor drain607.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor device 700 thatincludes a temperature shock sensor, according to some embodiments. Thesemiconductor device 700 includes a core circuit 701, a temperatureshock monitor 703, and a sensing circuit 705. The temperature shockmonitor 703 is in thermal contact with the core circuit 701. In thisway, the temperature shock monitor 703 may determine whether the corecircuit 701 experiences a thermal shock event during operation. Thesensing circuit 705 is used to perform one or more of theabove-mentioned measurements of an electrical property of thetemperature shock monitor 703 that is affected by the diffusion materialdiffusing into the solvent material of the temperature shock monitor703.

The core circuit 701 may be any electrical circuit a user desires tomonitor for temperature shock events. In some embodiments, the corecircuit 701 and the temperature shock monitor 703 are formed within acommon semiconductor substrate. By sharing the same semiconductorsubstrate, the thermal coupling between the core circuit 701 and thetemperature shock monitor 703 may be increased relative a device thatformed the core circuit 701 and the temperature shock monitor 703 ondifferent substrates.

The sensing circuit 705 may be formed in or on the common semiconductorsubstrate, in some embodiments. The sensing circuit 705 is electricallyconnected to the temperature shock monitor 703 such that at least oneelectrical property of the temperature shock monitor 703 may bemeasured. For example, the sensing circuit may include a voltage sourceand/or a current source and a voltmeter and/or an ammeter. One or moreconductive traces may electrically connect the sources and meters of thesensing circuit 705 to one or more electrical contacts of thetemperature shock monitor 703, such as electrical contact 511 andelectrical contact 513 of FIG. 5 or electrical contacts (not shown) thatconnect to the n-type semiconductor source 605 and the n-typesemiconductor drain 607 of FIG. 6. The sensing circuit 705 is configuredto apply a voltage and/or current to the temperature shock monitor 703and measure a resulting voltage and/or current of the temperature shockmonitor 703 to determine whether a shock event occurred at any time inthe past.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method 800 of determining whether atemperature threshold is exceeded, according to some embodiments.

At block 801, which is optional, a temperature shock monitor overcomesan energy barrier with an electrical shock. This may be done by applyinga current to the diffusion material of the temperature shock monitor tocause a portion of the diffusion material to diffuse into the solventmaterial of the temperature shock monitor. Alternatively, the energybarrier may be overcome using a temperature shock. After the energybarrier is overcome, a portion of the diffusion material may be withinthe solvent material. In some embodiments, the activation energy of thediffusion material in the solvent material is large such that most ofthe diffusion material atoms remain located near the interface of thesolvent material and the diffusion barrier material.

At block 803, the temperature shock monitor diffuses a first diffusionmaterial in the solvent material by exposing the temperature shockmonitor to a temperature sufficient to exceed the energy barrier. Thediffusion material will diffuse deeper into the solvent material whenexposed to the high temperature and affect one or more electricalproperties of the temperature shock monitor. In some embodiments,exposing the temperature shock monitor to a sufficiently hightemperature may be done in the course of storing the temperature shockmonitor, in the course of transporting the temperature shock monitor,and/or in the course of operating an electronic device that is thermallycoupled to the temperature shock monitor.

At block 805, a device detects an electrical property of the solventmaterial that is indicative of a concentration of the first diffusionmaterial in the solvent material. The device that measures theelectrical property may be the sensing circuit 705 of FIG. 7.Alternatively, a user of the temperature shock monitor may connect oneor more external voltage/current sources and voltmeters/ammeters to thetemperature shock monitor to measure one or more electrical propertiesof the temperature shock monitor. Examples of electrical properties thatmay be measured include diode leakage, junction voltage, gain, transientresponse, and threshold voltage, among others.

Having thus described several aspects and embodiments of the technologyof this application, it is to be appreciated that various alterations,modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those of ordinaryskill in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements areintended to be within the spirit and scope of the technology describedin the application. For example, some embodiments above describe usingan n-type or p-type semiconductor material for a particular purpose. Itshould be understood that in some embodiments, the n-type and p-typesemiconductor materials may be switched. Thus, embodiments, are notlimited to any particular type of semiconductor material.

It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments arepresented by way of example only and that, within the scope of theappended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may bepracticed otherwise than as specifically described. In addition, anycombination of two or more features, systems, articles, materials,and/or methods described herein, if such features, systems, articles,materials, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is includedwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, as described, some aspects may be embodied as one or more methods.The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitableway. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts areperformed in an order different than illustrated, which may includeperforming some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequentialacts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are usedmerely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain namefrom another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm) to distinguish the claim elements. Use of such ordinal terms inthe claims does not necessarily have the same meaning or refer to thesame component as components the specification that use the same ordinalterms.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified.

The terms “approximately,” “substantially,” and “about” may be used tomean within ±20% of a target value in some embodiments, within ±10% of atarget value in some embodiments, within ±5% of a target value in someembodiments, and yet within ±2% of a target value in some embodiments.The terms “approximately” and “about” may include the target value.

What is claimed is:
 1. A temperature shock monitor for determiningwhether a temperature threshold is exceeded, the temperature shockmonitor comprising: a solvent material; and a first diffusion material,wherein an energy barrier between the solvent material and the firstdiffusion material is less than 2.0 eV and greater than or equal to 0.7eV.
 2. The temperature shock monitor of claim 1, wherein the firstdiffusion material is gold.
 3. The temperature shock monitor of claim 1,further comprising a solvent-diffusion interface between the solventmaterial and the first diffusion material.
 4. The temperature shockmonitor of claim 1, further comprising: a first electrical contact inphysical contact with the first diffusion material at a first location;and a second electrical contact in physical contact with the firstdiffusion material at a second location, wherein the solvent material ispositioned at a third location between the first location and the secondlocation.
 5. The temperature shock monitor of claim 1, furthercomprising a second diffusion material, wherein an energy barrierbetween the solvent material and the second diffusion material isdifferent from the energy barrier between the solvent material and thefirst diffusion material.
 6. The temperature shock monitor of claim 1,further comprising a diffusion barrier material positioned between thesolvent material and the first diffusion material, wherein an energybarrier between the first diffusion material and the diffusion barriermaterial is greater than the energy barrier between the solvent materialand the first diffusion material.
 7. The temperature shock monitor ofclaim 6, wherein the solvent material comprises an n-type material and ap-type material and the temperature shock monitor further comprises ap-n junction formed from the n-type material and the p-type material. 8.The temperature shock monitor of claim 1, wherein: the solvent materialand the first diffusion material are included in a semiconductor device,and whether the temperature threshold is exceeded is determined based ona leakage current or a reverse leakage current of the semiconductordevice.
 9. A semiconductor device comprising: a core circuit; and atemperature shock monitor in thermal contact with the core circuit andconfigured to determine whether a temperature threshold is exceeded, thetemperature shock monitor comprising: a solvent material; and a firstdiffusion material, wherein an energy barrier between the solventmaterial and the first diffusion material is less than 2.0 eV andgreater than or equal to 0.7 eV.
 10. The semiconductor device of claim9, wherein the first diffusion material is gold.
 11. The semiconductordevice of claim 9, wherein the temperature shock monitor furthercomprises a solvent-diffusion interface between the solvent material andthe first diffusion material.
 12. The semiconductor device of claim 9,wherein the temperature shock monitor further comprises: a firstelectrical contact in physical contact with the first diffusion materialat a first location; and a second electrical contact in physical contactwith the first diffusion material at a second location, wherein thesolvent material is positioned at a third location between the firstlocation and the second location.
 13. The semiconductor device of claim9, wherein the temperature shock monitor further comprises a seconddiffusion material, wherein an energy barrier between the solventmaterial and the second diffusion material is different from the energybarrier between the solvent material and the first diffusion material.14. The semiconductor device of claim 9, wherein the temperature shockmonitor further comprises a diffusion barrier material positionedbetween the solvent material and the first diffusion material, whereinan energy barrier between the first diffusion material and the diffusionbarrier material is greater than the energy barrier between the solventmaterial and the first diffusion material.
 15. The semiconductor deviceof claim 14, wherein the solvent material comprises an n-type materialand a p-type material and the temperature shock monitor furthercomprises a p-n junction formed from the n-type material and the p-typematerial.
 16. The semiconductor device of claim 9, wherein: the solventmaterial and the first diffusion material are included in a circuitelement of the thermal shock monitor, and whether the temperaturethreshold is exceeded is determined based on a leakage current or areverse leakage current of the circuit element of the thermal shockmonitor.
 17. A temperature shock monitor for determining whether atemperature threshold is exceeded, the temperature shock monitorcomprising: a diffusion material having a first activation energy; asolvent material having a second activation energy; and a diffusionbarrier positioned between the diffusion material and the solventmaterial, wherein the diffusion barrier has a third activation energythat is higher than each of the first activation energy and the secondactivation energy.
 18. The temperature shock monitor of claim 17,wherein a difference between the first activation energy and the thirdactivation energy is an activation barrier in a range of about 1 eV toabout 3 eV.
 19. The temperature shock monitor of claim 17, wherein adifference between the second activation energy and the third activationenergy is in a range of about 1 eV to about 3 eV.
 20. The temperatureshock monitor of claim 17, wherein the solvent material is comprised ofa channel, and wherein the temperature shock monitor is furthercomprised of first and second conduction regions separated by thechannel.